Sunday, January 20, 2008

You know how chocolate, raisins, grapes, garlic and onions are toxic to dogs? Well, I found out the hard way that so are macadamia nuts.Yesterday morning Buddy did not want to get out of bed, not even for a pee. We litarally had to lift him out of bed and plunk him down in the backyard. He peed, and then within seconds he was back into bed. We knew he was having an off day, but didn't know what the problem was. A little while later, Buddy made his way into the living room to hang out with us, and that's when I noticed that he was limping and his hindquarters were shaking. I thought maybe we had run him too hard the day before, that maybe he had pulled a muscle.I took him for a little walk to the park, and when he pooped I noticed the nuts. When we returned home, I mentioned the nut-poop to Greg and then, thinking I was being funny, I said "imagine if we poisoned our puppy?"Lo and behold, thanks to WWW this is what I came up with:

The danger of macadamia nutsMacadamia nuts are another concern. A recent paper written by Dr. Ross McKenzie, a Veterinary Pathologist with the Department of Primary Industries, points to the danger of raw and roasted macadamia nuts for pets. The toxic compound is unknown but the affect of macadamia nuts is to cause locomotory difficulties. Dogs develop a tremor of the skeletal muscles, and weakness or paralysis of the hindquarters. Affected dogs are often unable to rise and are distressed, usually panting. Some affected dogs have swollen limbs and show pain when the limbs are manipulated. Dogs have been affected by eating as few as six macadamia kernels (nuts without the shell) while others had eaten approximately forty kernels. Some dogs had also been given macadamia butter.Luckily, the muscle weakness, while painful, seems to be of short duration and all dogs recovered from the toxicity. All dogs were taken to their veterinary surgeon. Pets owners should not assume that human food is always safe for pets. When it comes to chocolate, onions, garlic and macadamia nuts, such foods should be given in only small quantities, or not at all. Be sure that your pets can’t get into your stash of chocolates, that food scraps are disposed of carefully to prevent onion and garlic toxicity and that your dog is prevented from picking up macadamia nuts if you have a tree in your garden.

WE POISONED OUR PUPPY.We immediately drove to the Vet, and he reassured us that Buddy would be fine once the nuts went through his system. I felt like the biggest loser dog parent ever. I would have never forgiven myself if he'd have died because I gave him people food. I never even have stupid macadamia nuts in the house, but we happened to receive a bag for Christmas and it seemed like a good idea to eat them the other night. We would have been better off eating a pound of lard, at least Buddy wouldn't have been poisoned.

The good news is, is that Buddy is back to normal and racing like the wind again. We've all learned our lesson: no more people treats for Buddy.

Friday, January 04, 2008

My new blackberry has an alarm feature with a snooze setting on it. Finally I am able to press snooze every 10 minutes for as many times as I like :) which is already starting to drive Greg nuts. I am not a morning person and never have been. For Greg, the alarm goes off and he jumps out of bed---I seriously don't know how people do that! I am quite capable of being ready and out the door in 20 minutes (with a packed lunch) as I tend to get organized the night before. I shower and wash my hair before I go to bed, and cross my fingers that I don't have a 'sleep-part' on the crown of my head in the morning.This morning my alarm went off at 6am, I pressed snooze until 6:50, had a shower, jumped back into bed (after I pushed Buddy out of the way) to warm up, got out of bed again at 7:05, drank coffee and have been playing on the computer for over an hour which now already makes me 10 minutes late for work. Well, not exactly LATE as I don't have to keep regular hours because I don't have to relieve anyone at the end of their shift. So, this morning I have been dilly-dallying and although my alarm first went off at 6am, it is now 8am and I still have to dry my hair, get dressed, and slap on my make-up before I leave to battle with rush hour traffic.Geez...I should have set my alarm for 7am and gotten an extra hour of sleep.Do you guys snooze, or do you get up with the first alarm?

A Little About Ramona

I am a 43year old "Late Bloomer" living in Toronto, Canada who found the love of my life in my late 30's. Unfortunately while I was waiting to 'grow up' my ovaries just went ahead and turned to stone. We were married in Las Vegas on 11/11, our favourite number.I am a Registered Nurse, but won't gore you with the details. There is not alot that I haven't seen, but I get queasy at the sight of my own blood.There is no real theme to this blog, but you will find lots of pictures of my cats, Mr. Mao (rhymes with Wow!) and The Dutchess. Buddy, is our 2 year old Border Collie-Whippet and the newest member to our menagerie is Laila, a Border Collie-Shepard. I have traveled a great deal in the past and am planning more budget adventures for the future.I love other people's junk and somehow always find a use for it. I have a summer trailer, and never thought I'd be Trailer Trash!I like to read and garden, and wish I were more athletic as I'm constantly battling my weight. I've been on every variation of the WW plan since 1980.I like (make that, Love!) red wine, and probably enjoy it a little too much. Did I mention I struggle with my weight?You'll find lots of pictures here, although I do not claim to be a photographer. Mostly just day-to-day stuff that catches my eye.I always thought I was fairly normal, but lately am having a few issues with depression/anxiety that are causing me to be a bit withdrawn. I'm working on changing that.You might catch a rant or two about family crap, or things that irk me, but generally, this is a pretty happy place for me.